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How True is True Love in Modern Times?

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How True is True Love in Modern Times?
Does True Love Exist? "I love you." These three little words might possibly be the most powerful statement one can make to another person. In life, most yearn for the intimate affection that a certain someone can provide them. Women dream of their Prince Charming to come and sweep them off their feet, while men search for the love of their life that sets their heart on fire. But what happens when love is thrown around without a second thought? Has this four letter word become an overused cliché? Has love been replaced with lust? Is there such a thing as true love? This last question has been asked throughout history, while many have argued and debated over the final answer. We, as a society, have become a loveless, sex crazed group of people with no concern for any emotion or attachment in our lives. So does this mean that true love does not exist? No. This only shows that achieving the deepest of feelings takes work that our fast-food eating, TV watching generation is not prepared to handle. I believe that true love does exist, but has merely been pushed aside by convenience, superficiality, and apathy. It seems that over the years, true love is expressed less and less. We are bombarded with holiday cards filled with someone else's words, and are practically forced to send our love in an email. How often do we actually sit down and write out our feelings to the one we love? "To My Dear and Loving Husband," however, is the quintessential love letter. Anne Bradstreet shares her feelings to her husband in such a loving way that could make anyone's heart melt. According to BellaOnline, Bradstreet was, "married to governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony and had eight children." Even though her marriage might have become filled with routines and lost a little passion, the poet never loses the love for her husband. She states that the power of her "…love is such that rivers cannot quench"(Bradstreet, 7). Bradstreet expresses her emotions to be so strong that not even a


Cited: Andregg, Caron. "To My Dear And Loving Husband." BellaOnline. 01 Mar. 2005 http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art4676.asp Bradstreet, Anne. "To My Dear and Loving Husband." Making Arguments about Literature: A Compact Guide And Anthology. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2005. 346-347. "Love."Dictionary.com. 25 Feb. 2005 http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=love Millay, Edna St. Vincent. "Love Is Not All." Making Arguments about Literature: A Compact Guide And Anthology. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2005. 349. "Psychological Theories About the Dynamics of Love (I)."About. 01 Mar. 2005 http://psychology.about.com/library/weekly/aa022000a.htm Richmond, Raymond Lloyd. "Sexuality and Love." A Guide to Psychology and its Practice. 01 Mar. 2005. http://www.guidetopsychology.com/sex_love.htm#n4 Shakespeare, William. "Let me not to the marriage of true minds." Making Arguments about Literature: A Compact Guide And Anthology. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2005. 345-346. Szymborska, Wislawa. "True Love." Making Arguments about Literature: A Compact Guide And Anthology. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2005. 725-726. Woodlief, Ann. "Anne Bradstreet." 01 Mar. 2005 http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng384/bradbio.htm

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